Blue Jays finish No. 1 in MLB Power Rankings

Even though the Jays might have reached their finish line when they clinched the AL East, and stumbled the rest of the way, but even without ideal home-field advantage, Toronto is the favourite entering the postseason. A rotation of David Price, R.A. Dickey, Marcus Stroman and Marco Estrada is impressive, especially for a team that, for the first half of the season, counted on outslugging the opposition. Now, the Jays can win by mashing or with impressive pitching, which is a pretty good way to go into the playoffs.
Key Injuries: LF Michael Saunders (knee), 2B Devon Travis (shoulder).

Even though the Cardinals finished the season with the best record in the league, and they get a bonus of having Adam Wainwright return to at least help the bullpen, but if Yadier Molina is limited by his injury, that's enough reason to worry.

Key Injuries: 1B Matt Adams (quad), C Yadier Molina (thumb), RHP Carlos Martinez (shoulder).

The Dodgers may not have the lineup that inspires fear among other playoff teams, but they get to roll out Clayton Kershaw and Zack Greinke -- a duo that no other team can touch. That's their way to make a run: adequate hitting and amazing starting pitching.
Key Injuries:  LHP Hyun-Jin Ryu (shoulder), RHP Brandon McCarthy (elbow).

The Cubs have arrived sooner than expected, and having the hottest pitcher on the planet, Jake Arrieta, gives them an edge in the wild card game with Pittsburgh.

Key Injuries: None.

Matching up against Arrieta in a one-game, loser-goes-home game is a raw deal for a tremendous season, but let's not write off the Pirates just yet. And if they move on the the NLDS, keep an eye out for LHP J.A. Happ, who has a 1.85 ERA, with 69 strikeouts in 63 1/3 innings over 11 starts since joining the Pirates. 

Key Injuries: SS Jung Ho Kang (knee).

The Royals' bullpen remains formidable, but there are more questions about the starting staff since Johnny Cueto didn't exactly pitch like an ace (4.76 ERA, 1.45 WHIP in 13 starts) after coming over from Cincinnati.

Key Injuries: LHP Jason Vargas (elbow), RHP Greg Holland (elbow).

There is going to be drama whenever Matt Harvy is involved in this Mets postseason, but he's not the only ace-calibre starter, as Jacob deGrom and Noah Syndergaard can shut down a team on any given day. While the offence has gotten better since the acquisition of Yoenis Cespedes, there are still some holes.
Key Injuries: RHP Zack Wheeler (elbow).

The Astros very nearly slipped out of what, at one point, seemed to be a guaranteed playoff spot, but they're in and send LHP Dallas Keuchel to face the Yankees in the wild card game. Keuchel has struggled away from home, but owns lefties (which typically suits the Yankees at the Stadium), so there are a lot of angles for this single elimination game.
Key Injuries: None.

The Indians finished strong, anchored by power arms in the rotation (Corey Kluber, Carlos Carrasco, Danny Salazar, Trevor Bauer) and an elite keystone combination, 2B Jason Kipnis and rookie SS Francisco Lindor.

My preseason pick to win the World Series (just missed!), the Nationals' pitching staff was good, but didn't live up to advanced billing and the lineup, aside from MVP favourite Bryce Harper, was abysmal. 3B Yunel Escobar was probably the team's second-best offensive player, hitting .314 with a .790 OPS, but that's not quite a fearsome lineup.

Close, but not enough, to reach the playoffs, the Angels didn't have enough support for their MVP candidate, CF Mike Trout. RF Kole Calhoun had a nice year and 1B Albert Pujols did hit 40 homers (with a .307 OBP), but none of the veteran pitchers really took control, as rookies Andrew Heaney and Nicholas Tropeano offered promise for the future.

That CF Kevin Kiermaier was the Rays' most valuable position player was something of an upset, but his defence was sensational. As underrated values go, infielder Logan Forsythe was a solid contributor too, hitting 17 homers, posting an .803 OPS while playing first and second base. Thing is, the Rays need more than just surprising contributors in the lineup -- need a few legit big bats.

Lineup depth and mediocre pitching prevented the Orioles from competing with the best of the AL East, and the offseason brings pending free agency for two regulars (1B Chris Davis, who led the majors with 47 homers, and C Matt Wieters, who did not).

The Diamondbacks were reasonably competitive, thanks to great seasons from 1B Paul Goldschmidt and CF A.J. Pollock, but maybe the best feel-good story on the team is reliever Daniel Hudson, who handled more than 67 innings out of the Arizona bullpen, coming back from two Tommy John surgeries. The last time Hudson pitched more than 50 innings in a season was 2011.

Talk about a punchless lineup - 1B Jose Abreu, with 30, was the only White Sox hitter with more than 14 home runs and the only one with an OPS over .800, so that's the primary need for next season's improvement.

It says something about the Padres that they think the manager was the problem with this team. Maybe what it says is that GM A.J. Preller has one freebie, because his 2015 season was not a masterpiece.

Tigers manager Brad Ausmus is admant that the Tigers are not rebuilding, and that may be true of a lineup that still has some pop in the middle of the order, there had better be a few solutions found for the starting pitching staff, where the only good news this year may have been Justin Verlander's resurrection.

Remember when Brett Lawrie was one of baseball's best defensive third basemen? He was a far cry from that this year in Oakland.  The A's, who have a few defensive liabilities already, could hardly afford that downgrade if they thought they were getting a top defender at the position.
 

He may be one of baseball's most hated, but 38-year-old C A.J. Pierzynski hit .300 and ranked third among Braves position players with 2.1 fWAR.

Had a five-rookie starting rotation down the stretch, and while most struggled, Anthony DeSclafani turned in a respectable (4.05 ERA, 1.35 WHIP in 31 starts) season. 

Miles away from being competitive despite having two players, 3B Nolan Arenado and RF Carlos Gonzalez, with at least 40 homers. The next trick is figuring out what to do with SS Jose Reyes, who probably needs to be moved out, with the Rockies eating some salary.